What a Flood Watch Means For Your Basement

April showers bring May flowers, but apparently July droughts bring August floods. After weeks with only the most negligible rain all throughout lower Michigan, we got hit hard this past weekend and now have a flood watch for tonight and tomorrow morning.

2-4 inches of rain are expected in Lansing and surrounding areas, and since the ground is already soaked from the weekend’s storms, the water doesn’t have anywhere to go. Hydrostatic pressure builds with the over-saturation of the soil, and soon there’s water sneaking in through every minuscule crack in your basement and ruining anything you’ve stored down there.

Other than being inconvenient - no one wants water in their basement, even if it technically isn’t “hurting” anything - standing water can do a lot of damage to your home.

1. Mold

We talk about it all the time, but that’s because it’s a major problem that can destroy everything from your home to your health. All mold needs in order to grow is moisture and food, so when water invades your basement, the humidity and snacks (in the form of boxes, papers, and even fiberglass insulation) give it an easy foothold.

If your basement is partially or fully finished, you might be at an even greater a risk. Finishings, like wood paneling and baseboard, are known for harboring mold and in addition to providing a food source, the time it takes them to dry out after being waterlogged is plenty of time to allow mold to grow in the damp space between the wall and finishing. Mold and water can also degrade finishings and even structural supports over time.

Once mold starts growing in your basement, as long as it has moisture and food it will continue, and there’s a high likelihood it will travel up into your home. There, it can affect the air quality and cause any number of respiratory illnesses.

2. Structural Damage

Even if they aren’t visible to the eye, your basement walls probably have cracks. Even the thinnest crack can allow water to enter, and once the “gateway” is open, as long as there is water outside, there will be water in your basement.

Constant water flow can erode the area of the wall surrounding the cracks, until the once minuscule hairline crack is suddenly very visible. Any structural change can affect the stability of your foundation, and therefore the safety of your home. In addition to the walls, standing water and the accompanying ambient moisture can warp and rot wooden supports and beams, further endangering your home.

3. Stress

You went into the basement to put laundry in and sloshed right into an inch of water. Maybe you were lucky enough to catch the problem before it could ruin anything, but you then spent three hours moving boxes and photo albums up to higher ground. Maybe you weren’t lucky, and there’s a box worth of damp papers spread out in your den.

If you don’t have a sump pump, you could spend every hour, around the clock, bailing water out of your basement to stop it from rising. Even if you do have a pump, there’s no guarantee it will be able to keep up. Did it keep up the last time this happened?

It feels like a hassle to get your basement inspected and have a waterproofing system installed. But is it more of a hassle than worrying every time it rains?

Call us for an appointment at 1-866-379-1669, and stop worrying about flood warnings.